


Carry Your Heart

by irelandhoneybee



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post Season 3, Slow Burn, stubborn idiots in love, wedding fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-03-17 22:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18974059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irelandhoneybee/pseuds/irelandhoneybee
Summary: Foggy and Marci are getting married.  Matt and Karen are both members of the wedding party and find themselves growing closer and closer





	1. Dance Lesson

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still bitter we never got Karedevil dancing on the show, hence the inspiration for this fic, which then kept growing.

Trying to run in heels was the worst. Karen was trying her best not to fall face first onto the sidewalk while trying to ignore the incessant chiming of her phone. She didn’t even have to check who it was; she knew without a doubt it was Marci asking where she was and did she not realize she was holding things up. Probably with a few choice curse words sprinkled throughout. 

Karen had been surprised when Marci had asked her to be a bridesmaid. They had grown closer while the new firm was getting off the ground; Marci had actually been a huge help in that regard, sending a few clients their way in the really early days, and Karen found herself completely forgetting about the awful first impression she had gotten of Foggy’s bride-to be. Marci had also started joining them at Josie’s on Friday nights, and eventually she and Karen had started meeting for lunch every couple of weeks. 

A friendship had definitely bloomed between them, but the bridesmaid thing was still unexpected. Karen suspected it was a last minute decision; she had overheard Foggy tell Matt that Marci’s college roommate was out of the country and wouldn’t make it back in time for the wedding. Whatever the reason, Karen had been happy to accept. 

Tonight the entire wedding party had to take a dance lesson as Marci didn’t want anyone looking “completely hopeless”. Karen thought it was a little ridiculous, she doubted anyone would be paying attention to the dancing at all aside from Foggy and Marci’s first dance, but she didn’t dare express this to Marci, who was rapidly turning into a bit of a Bridezilla. 

Karen sighed in relief when she spotted the building the dance studio was in and pulled her phone out to check the time, wincing when she realized she was over twenty minutes late. 

She entered the building, remembering Marci’s directions to make a left and followed the hallway down to the very end of the building. She burst into a smile when she saw Matt waiting outside the door for her, silently willing her heartbeat to slow down.

“Hey” she said as she got closer. 

He smiled at her in response, and it felt like her heart was going to fly out of her chest. Damn it. Matt’s smile did things to her. 

“How much trouble am I in?” 

“You’re actually probably in more trouble with Foggy than Marci. Since we couldn’t start at ‘exactly seven o’clock’”, he used air quotes, “Marci has been making him go over seating arrangements. I think he’s about ready to fall asleep.” 

“Oh boy.”

“Everything go ok?” Matt asked.

“Yes, I got everything we need and then some. Turns out Mrs. Rosenstern is quite the talker. I’ll spare you the details now, we’ll go over everything on Monday.”

“Sounds good.”

“Come on, we should probably go save Foggy.”

“Yeah” Matt chuckled, but didn’t make a move towards the door, and he fidgeted with his collar.

“You ok?” Karen asked. He seemed almost nervous. 

“Yeah, it’s just...the dancing, I guess, you know?”

Karen gave him a sympathetic smile. She hadn’t thought about how awkward this ridiculous lesson would be for him. She thought it was probably safe to say Matt didn’t have a whole lot of experience on the dance floor. And no doubt Marci had him paired with Nicole, the maid of honor. Dancing with a complete stranger wouldn’t do anything for his nerves either. 

“You have nothing to worry about. It’s just one stupid slow dance. All you really have to do is sway back and forth. Don’t tell Marci I said that.” she said, slipping her hand through his arm.

Matt chuckled, but Karen noticed him bite his lip.

“Hey, how about I be your partner?” she asked, her reasons not entirely selfless. 

“Oh! That would be great, but I think I’m supposed to dance with Nicole. Apparently it’s a thing for the best man of maid of honor to share a dance?”

“It is, but I don’t care. Do you?

“That would be a no.” 

“Then it’s settled. I’ll tell Marci. I’m already in her bad books for being late, so why not add on?”  
Matt smiled at her, and damn if her knees didn’t go weak. “That would be great. Especially since you’re breaking it to Marci.”

“I’m willing to negotiate that particular point, Murdock”, Karen said as they walked into the studio.

“Oh, look babe, Karen’s here; we can get started” Foggy practically leapt up from the folding chair he had been sitting in and ran over in the guise of giving her a hug.

“You owe me, Page. Big time.” Foggy said softly before returning to Marci’s side. 

“Sorry I’m late guys”, Karen looked around the room at the other members of the wedding party: Foggy’s brother Theo, Brett Mahoney (who had very reluctantly accepted Foggy’s plea to be a groomsman after Marci told him in no uncertain terms that he needed one more), Marci’s maid of honor Nicole and Karen’s fellow bridesmaid Juliet. She quickly dug the pair of flats she had thankfully remembered to put in her bag this morning so she wouldn't have to dance in her heels and slipped them on.

Theo, Nicole and Juliet were happily killing time on their phones and didn’t seem at all bothered that they were starting late. Brett was leaning against the wall scowling, muttering about being roped into this. Whether ‘this’ referred to the dance lesson or being a member of the wedding party was unclear, but Karen was willing to bet it was the latter. 

“OK everyone, now that we’re _finally_ all here”-Marci glared at Karen, and Matt just barely managed to stifle a laugh when Karen squeezed his arm, “we can get started. Jacqueline!” Marci.

A tall woman with perfect posture seemed to glide out of a back room, making her way to the center of the room and clapped her hands together.

“We are finally ready to begin, yes?” she asked in a French accent, also shooting a glare at Karen.

“Yeah, so rude, Karen, _God_.” Matt leaned in and whispered in her ear.

She tried and failed to suppress a giggle, earning her more glares from Marci and Jacqueline. 

Jacqueline stood in the center of the room and gave them a rundown of the simple two-step slow dance they would doing, and then demonstrated with Foggy. She then instructed them to partner up and went to put music on. Karen noticed Marci gearing up to instruct who was dancing with who, and beat her to the punch.

“Marci, I’m dancing with Matt, ok?”. Karen shot a quick look at Foggy, who nodded, and pulled Marci into his arms and onto the dance floor before she could object.

She turned to Matt. “See? I told you.”

Matt laughed and took a step closer to her. “Shall we?” he asked, holding his hand out.

Karen smiled, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before reaching for his hand, and they started practising the steps. 

Jacqueline came over to observe, and adjusted their positions before nodding, apparently satisfied, and walking on to Theo and Juliet.

“Look at that, we’re naturals”, Karen teased.

“You were right, this isn’t as bad as I thought. It’s basically a hug set to music.” Matt said. 

Karen smiled. She was very aware of his hand on her back, and the subtle scent of his cologne, most likely covering up the scent of dried blood. Being this close to him was intoxicating. She never let herself think of their past relationship anymore. They were finally friends again, and Matt had never made any indication since he had been back that he wanted more than friendship. She wasn’t even sure that she did, considering how he had broken her heart the first time around. Maybe just friends was the way to go.

She tried to ignore how natural this felt, and leaned in closer to him. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn Matt clutched her a little tighter. But she did know better. They were just friends. How many times would she have to repeat that to herself tonight? She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder as they continued to sway to the music. Just for tonight, she was going to let herself enjoy being in his arms.


	2. Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt and Karen are more than happy to reap the benefits during Foggy and Marci's cake tasting

Matt sighed as he started in on what seemed like the hundredth deposition of this case. He looked up as he heard footsteps approach the building and pushed his reader aside, happy for the distraction.

“She's on the way up Foggy”, he called. 

“Is the conference room clear?” Foggy asked as he made a beeline to open the door for Marci.

“Yes. As we discussed an hour ago, everything has been moved into my office.” Karen answered, and Matt smiled; he could tell from her tone she was rolling her eyes. 

“OK. I’m in enough trouble already that we have to do it here and not the bakery.”

They were in the middle of what was seeming like a never-ending case, and Foggy had asked him and Karen if they would mind terribly if the cake testing was done at the office after he had missed their appointment earlier in the week. 

“Well, not to mention you forgot.” Matt couldn’t help but quip, stepping out of his office. 

“Yeah, how did you forget something involving cake? That seems like it would be one of the better activities in all of this wedding planning stuff.” Karen smirked. 

“You two are hilarious.” Foggy said, his voice dripping with sarcasm before he opened the door.

“I can’t believe I forgot there’s no elevator in this building. Hopefully the samples didn’t get knocked around. I should have had you come down and get the box; I don’t know what I was thinking”, Marci said as she entered the office.

“Hi Marce. The conference room is all set for you guys.” Karen told her.

“Perfect, thanks.” Marci said before disappearing into the conference room with Foggy.

Matt retreated to his office and tried to focus on the deposition he had put aside, but was all too happy to abandon it again when he heard Karen approaching his office a few minutes later. 

“Hey” he said as she poked her head in. 

“Hey. Sorry to disturb.”

He caught himself before saying something to the effect of how she never disturbed him, and instead settled for a simple “What’s up?”

“I’m starving and I kind of want to go in there and steal some cake samples. Did you see the size of that box?”

Matt could only laugh in response. 

“So what do you say, do you want me to snag some for you too?”

“Hmmm. Tempting. You think there’s any chocolate in there?”

“Oh, without a doubt. Although, Marci was telling me about this bakery; apparently they specialize in ‘flavor combination cakes’. So there might not be any plain chocolate.”

“Are you really going to go ask them if we can eat their cake samples?” Matt chuckled.

“Yep. Wanna come?”

“I-” Matt started, letting his voice trail off as he heard Foggy heading into his office.

“Oh good, you’re both in here. Saves me a trip to Karen’s office. We need your thoughts on cake. Marci and I have reached an impasse,” Foggy announced.

Karen looked at Matt, and he could tell she was trying not to laugh. 

“I think that could be arranged. Matt?”

“Yeah, I mean, I guess Fog. But you do realize how busy we are right? We can't be stopping in the middle of every case to taste cake samples” Matt teased. 

“Shut it, Murdock. Now listen you two. Marci is leaning towards some vanilla/violet/almond thing. That is not a cake. I don’t care what you pick as long as it’s not that.”

“Violet as in the flower?” Matt asked.

“Yes. Violets belong in a garden, not on my wedding cake.”

“I don’t know, Foggy, I happen to love anything that’s vanilla, violet and almond”. Karen said as they followed him to the conference room. 

Matt tried to hold in his laughter, letting Karen take his arm and help him to a seat. They probably didn’t need to put on a display in front of Marci, who was busy typing something on her phone. But they were used to it, and he could never be too careful. The truth was Matt loved whenever there was an excuse for Karen to “guide” him when they were in front of people. 

“OK guys, these are our favorites”, Marci said, passing them each a plate with 2 cake bites. 

“This is the vanilla violet one we’ve heard so much about?” Karen asked.

“Yes.” Marci glared at Foggy. It is very classy, although it’s a little heavy on the almond flavor for my taste. But the one Foggy likes the most-”

“Is delicious.” Foggy cut in. “It’s a chocolate peanut butter cake. It’s basically a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in cake form. What’s not to like?”

Matt laughed, already leaning towards Foggy’s choice before he had even tried it. 

“It’s good Foggy Bear, but for a kid’s birthday party. Not our wedding.” Marci said.

“If this cake wasn’t meant for weddings, why did they include it for us to sample?” Foggy shot back.

Matt attempted to stifle his laugh with a cough, but he must not have been successful judging from the way he felt Marci’s glare boring into him.

“OK, why don’t we try them and see if we can help you decide,” Karen said, trying to play peacemaker.

Matt dug his fork into Foggy’s choice.

“That’s the chocolate peanut butter,” Marci called out before he took a bite. Matt was glad he was wearing his glasses so Marci couldn’t see him roll his eyes. He could feel Karen trying not to giggle next to him, and felt a little thrill go through him as she lightly squeezed his knee.

“Thank you” he told Marci before finally taking a bite. He could see why Foggy wanted this one. It was delicious. Maybe a little strong on the chocolate, they appeared to have used two different types of cocoa, but he doubted anyone else could tell the difference. 

Once he and Karen had sampled both cakes, they both agreed with Foggy that the chocolate peanut butter was better. 

“I should have known better.” Marci sighed. 

“Sorry Marce” Karen said. “But are these really the only two you’re considering? I mean, look at all of these samples.”

“We did try the others, well Foggy did.” Marci corrected herself. “I did try the lemon blueberry and the vanilla raspberry. But now I’m wondering if a flavor combination cake is the way to go. There are 2 other bakeries on my list that are more traditional. Foggy Bear, we’ll go on Saturday morning”

Foggy sighed. “OK, but I still don’t see why we can’t just go with the chocolate peanut butter.”

“Enough about the damn chocolate peanut butter!” Marci stood up and started putting the lid back on the box.

“Um, you know, Matt and I didn’t get a chance to sample all of them. Would you mind leaving the box?” Karen asked.

Before Matt knew it, Foggy and Marci were out the door, Foggy promising to be back after he walked Marci back to her office and he and Karen were alone with what remained of the cake samples.

“OK Murdock, what will it be? Let’s see, we have-” Karen stopped mid sentence. “Actually, you know what?”

Matt had no idea what she was thinking. “What?”

“I want to see if you can guess what the flavors are.”

Matt smirked. “Oh, really? You know I can do that in my sleep, right?”

“Let’s just see about that, shall we?”

Karen placed a sample in front of him. “Do your thing.”

Matt didn’t even blink. “Lemon and blueberry. Vanilla icing.”

“Well done. And this one?”, Karen placed a different slice in front of him.

“Chocolate with caramel. Salted caramel. Chocolate icing.”

Karen groaned, and Matt beamed, enjoying this game. She placed another cake in front of him. 

Matt frowned. “Vanilla raspberry. With something else. White chocolate?”

“Damn it! I thought I stumped you there for a minute.” 

“Are you doubting my abilities, Miss Page?” he teased. 

“Never.” she answered, turning to look at him, and feeling her gaze on him gave Matt a warm feeling all over. 

“I think this should have been the other way around; you should have been the one testing me.” Karen broke the silence.

“Am I supposed to guess this one too?” Matt asked. 

“Nah. I say let’s just eat”, she grabbed them both a sample. “OK, this one is chocolate and blackberry. Which I’m sure you already knew”. She passed him a plate, pausing when her hand brushed his. 

Matt almost reached out to grab her hand, but she pulled away before he had the chance. He couldn’t help but notice how quickly her heart was beating. This wasn’t the first time he had heard her heart speed up when they were close to each other and he had no idea what to do about it. He wanted to say something, or find a way to let her know that his heart beats just as quickly as hers did, but the last thing he wanted to do was embarrass her. 

She never broached the subject since he had been back, so he didn’t either. They were in such a good place now. Maybe it was for the best that they just stayed friends. And if he was being honest with himself, the thought of hurting her again absolutely terrified him. Now that he had her back in his life, losing her again was simply not an option. But he couldn’t deny dancing with her last week had awakened something in him. 

They made their way through the remaining samples, remarking on their favorites and agreeing that Marci and Foggy were nuts for not even considering the chocolate toffee crunch before Karen sighed and remarked that they should probably get back to work. 

They both stood up, and Matt sensed Karen smiling at him.

“What is it?” he asked, smiling back.

“Come here, you’ve got a little icing on your cheek. Matt’s heart started pounding as she stepped closer to him, placing one hand lightly on his face while she wiped the icing off with a napkin.

“Thank you” he murmured. Before he was even aware he was doing it, he was covering the hand that was still on his chest with his own. They stood frozen for what was probably only seconds, the spell only broken when Foggy walked back into the office. Matt hadn’t even heard him come in the building. Karen cleared her throat and stepped away.

“Um, I guess we should get back to work”, she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Yeah.” Matt said, flashing a tight smile at her. 

Karen left the conference room but Matt stood rooted in place. Something was definitely happening between them. And what was scaring the hell out of him was that he wasn’t sure he wanted to keep ignoring it.


	3. Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties

Karen widened her eyes as a Bloody Mary the size of a small animal was placed in front of her. 

“Cheers, everyone!”, Nicole, Marci’s maid of honor, said, raising her glass, and Karen clinked her glass against the others’ before taking a small sip. Bloody Marys had never been her favorite, so she hadn’t been thrilled when the first item on the agenda for Marci’s bachelorette party had been brunch that specialized in the cocktail. To be totally honest, she was less than thrilled that the bachelorette party was taking up the entire day. When Nicole had emailed her the schedule (brunch, day spa, a cruise around the New York Harbor, followed by drinks at a bar) she had initially thought it was a joke.

“Nicole, thank you so much for organizing everything for today. I know we’re just getting started, but it is perfect.” Marci said, leaning over to give Nicole a hug.

Karen took another sip of her drink, and smiled to herself, thinking she’d be much happier crashing Foggy’s bachelor party. Matt had told her they were just grabbing drinks at Josie’s. That sounded much more appealing than the myriad of activities Nicole had planned for them today. 

"That's perfect; we can meet the guys there right after the spa". Karen snapped her head up at Marci's words. 

"What? What guys?". 

"Foggy's bachelor party. All they had planned was grabbing drinks at Josie's, and since Nicole had a Groupon for the cruise, I told Foggy to meet up with us at 6:00 so they can come with us and then they can go to the bar.”

Karen coughed in an attempt to hide her laughter. This must have been a last minute development; neither Foggy or Matt had said a word about how they were joining the cruise at the office yesterday. 

A little shiver ran through her as she realized she would be seeing Matt tonight. As was their custom, they hadn’t discussed that moment in the conference room after they had helped themselves to the remains of Foggy and Marci’s cake samples. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to address what was happening between them or not. A growing part of her wanted to, but then without fail she would wonder about the possibility that she had this all wrong. And the last thing she wanted to do was put herself out there if Matt wasn’t interested in reigniting their relationship.

She sighed and took a sip of her Bloody Mary. This was going to turn into an even more interesting day than she had anticipated.

*********

 

Karen shifted, waiting to board the ship that was taking them around the harbor. There was no sign of the guys, and Marci was getting a little anxious they hadn’t arrived yet. Nicole and Juliet kept trying to reassure her they had a good 15 minutes before they had to board.

The day spa hadn’t been quite as tedious as Karen had been expecting. While she would have been more than glad to have skipped the mud bath, the facial and mani-pedi hadn’t been too torturous, and she had loved the hot stone massage.

“Look Marce, there they are!” Juliet called out as the guys made their way down to the pier. 

“Foggy Bear, what are you wearing?”, Marci asked, apparently not appreciating Foggy’s “Game Over: Foggy’s Bachelor Party” tshirt.

“Gift from Theo,” Foggy said sheepishly, coming over to kiss Marci on the cheek,. Marci glared at Theo, who hastily tried to hide between a miserable looking Brett Mahoney. 

Karen smiled and rolled her eyes and went over to meet Matt, automatically slipping her arm through his.

“Hey” she said. “Didn’t think I’d be seeing you guys tonight.”

“Yeah”, he chuckled. “This was definitely not part of the plan. He adjusted his collar as they made their way onto the boat, Karen glanced at him, noticing he looked almost pale. 

“Are you ok?” she said softly.

“Yeah, I’m just...it’s stupid, I just, um, haven’t had the best experiences on the water.”

Karen closed her eyes, and slipped her arm out so she could hold his hand instead. He had told her and Foggy about being trapped in the cab as it had crashed into the water; Karen still had no clue how he had survived that particular incident. And she knew the night Foggy had found out about Daredevil had involved him being in the water too. 

“Matt-” she started.

“I’m fine, you know? I just…” he let his voice trail off.

“Well you know at least there are no evil people on board that will throw you off”, she whispered, giving his hand a squeeze. 

That at least got a smile out of him, but he still seemed a little on edge. Karen decided she’d stick close to him for the duration of the cruise, which, she had to admit to herself, was not entirely selfless. 

*************

It was a beautiful night, but the wind was whipping Karen’s hair around, making her extremely glad she had remembered to bring a hair tie. She hastily brought it into a low bun, leaning into Matt a little as she did. She told herself it meant nothing when he seemed to move a little closer to her. He was probably only shielding her from the wind. 

Matt did actually seem to relax as they set off on the water (the free champagne probably helped), and chatted easily with Karen, who was trying to distract him by telling him humiliating stories from her childhood. 

Karen was in the middle of telling him about the time she had to go to school with her jeans covered in mud because she had fallen walking her grandma’s dog before school and hadn’t had time to change before the bus came and almost missed Marci loudly asking a crew member if they could play music. Before she knew it, music was being piped through the ship and Marci was dragging Foggy to the middle of the deck to dance. 

Karen looked at Matt, and they both laughed. Karen went to fiddle with her hair, wanting to do something with her hands, but stopped, remembering she had pulled it back, She could tell Matt was focused in on her, but he stood frozen in place. She took a deep breath, before making a split-second decision and grabbed his hand.

“Do you want to dance?” she asked him.

“Yes”, Matt’s response came immediately, and then Karen was in his arms, and everything else fell away. She shivered with pleasure as his hand came to rest on the small of her back, and she moved in closer to him with a happy sigh.

“See, you’re a natural after that dance lesson,'' she teased him, and something inside her started to glow at the smile he gave her in return.

Karen closed her eyes, enjoying being so close to him. This was only the second time they were dancing together, but it felt so familiar, so right, it might as well have been their hundredth time. She barely paid attention to the song they were swaying to, something about fading and shadows, which seemed fitting. More than that, the whole evening felt perfect. 

One song faded into the next, and Karen had no idea how long they had been dancing. She was not paying any attention to her surroundings, so it came as a surprise when they realized they had docked, and everyone was getting off. 

“Oh”, Karen laughed, reluctantly untangling herself from Matt’s arms. “Short cruise.”

“Yeah”, Matt smiled. 

“Well, I guess this is goodnight.” Karen went to step away, but turned back around to face him when she felt him grab her arm.

“Karen, I-”

“Murdock! Where the hell are you? There’s a barstool at Josie’s with my name on it. Let’s get moving! Brett! You’re coming!” Foggy’s called out from the deck. 

“No chance in hell, Nelson. Besides, I’m going on duty.”

“Since when?”

“Since right now.”

Karen sighed as Foggy and Brett continued to bicker, and Matt hung his head, the moment broken. 

“Come on,” she said softly, linking her arm through his as they walked off the ship.

“Finally. Let’s go Matt!” Foggy exclaimed as they came into view. 

“Karen, come on. Juliet knows this cute little bar right around the corner.”, Marci said. 

Karen turned to face Matt. “Have fun.” she told him.

Matt flashed her a sad smile. “Yeah, you too.”

They both rejoined their respective parties, and Karen stood a little off to the side as Marci, Nicole and Juliet talked amongst themselves. She kept her eyes on Matt as he walked away, getting a little thrill knowing that he knew she was watching him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this whole chapter was really just an excuse for me to write more Karedevil dancing.
> 
> I don't mention what it is in this chapter, but the first song Matt and Karen dance to is "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star. Which reminds me, I should add it to my never-ending KD playlist.


	4. Rehearsal Dinner

“Very nice, I think that about covers it. I’ll see you all back here at 2:00 tomorrow.”

“2:00? It’s 1:00! How do you not know that?” Marci practically shrieked at the minister who had just walked them all through the wedding rehearsal. 

“Oh yes, yes, 1:00, I’m so sorry. I will see you then.” Pastor Walsh said with a nervous chuckle.

“Yes, you will see me then, and I will be calling you tonight _and_ first thing tomorrow morning to make sure you have the right time.” Marci started following him out the door.

Matt couldn’t help but laugh as Foggy chased after her, most likely wanting to ensure the poor man didn’t quit on the spot.

“It’s going to be a long night.” Matt smiled as Karen slid up next to him, slipping her arm through his as they started to make their way down to the hotel restaurant where the rehearsal dinner was being held. 

Typically rehearsal dinners were for the members of the wedding party and the bride and groom’s immediate family, but most of Foggy’s extended family had shown up, much to the surprise (of Foggy’s parents, who were paying for said dinner). Then again, as Foggy had said to Matt “Nelson’s show up if there’s food involved.”

"The wedding is tomorrow; there can't be that much left to do."

"Tell that to Marci's giant checklist. We have to go over all the fine details. And there are a lot of fine details." Karen sighed. 

Matt chuckled as they made their way to the back of the restaurant that was reserved for large groups. Which was a good thing considering their party was much bigger than originally anticipated. 

“Are you going home tonight?” she asked, and he noticed the nervousness in her tone.

Marci’s parents had very generously provided rooms to the wedding party. Matt definitely wasn’t wild about sleeping in the hotel, but he had promised Foggy until he was blue in the face that he would not go out as Daredevil the night before the wedding. He had been able to tell Foggy didn’t fully believe him, so he decided to take the Stahls up on their offer, mostly to ease Foggy’s mind that he wouldn’t show up battered and bruised for the wedding, or even worse, that he wouldn’t show up at all. 

“Uh, no.” he told her.

Karen turned to him with raised eyebrows. 

“No? Wow. I thought you’d be skipping out on the accommodations”.

“I was planning on it. But Foggy would have killed me. So…” he let his voice trail off. 

Karen chuckled as they entered the restaurant. 

“I’m sure he appreciates it”, she said. “Oh wow” She took in the long dining table. “Do you think we have assigned seats?” Karen asked.

Matt hoped not. He was hoping he and Karen could finally talk tonight. It had been a week since their dance on the cruise around the harbor, but it had been a busy week for the firm, and Karen had been in and out (mostly out) of the office tracking down potential witnesses. They had barely seen each other all week.

“I don’t think so. Here, let’s just sit here.” he pulled a chair out for her at the end of the table before sitting down next to her 

“You don’t have to make a speech tonight, do you?” Karen asked. 

“Nope. Just tomorrow night at the reception.”

“Are you going to wing it or did you prepare something?” 

He raised his eyebrows. “Who are you talking to?”

“Right, right, what was I thinking? Prestigious Attorney Matt Murdock would never wing his best man speech.”

“I don’t know about ‘prestigious’”, he said, flashing a smile at her.

“Oh, I do.”

Matt could feel her eyes boring into him, and reached for his water glass, his mouth suddenly dry.

“Um-” he started.

“Murdock! How are those briefs?” 

Matt cringed at Theo’s voice. Theo never tired of the dumb joke. Matt decided not to answer, not wanting to encourage him, but luckily Theo had walked right past him to grab a seat, seemingly not caring that Matt hadn’t answered with the usual follow up line. 

He turned his attention back to Karen, who was checking her phone.

“Karen, I was wondering if-”

“OK ladies and gentlemen, now that everyone is seated we will begin bringing in the first course in just a few minutes”, the maitre’d announced.

“Thank God. I’m starving. I skipped lunch today.” Karen said.

Matt smiled at her before trying to get the words out again 

“Karen, I was wondering-”

“Karen! Marci wants us all to meet in her room right after dessert, ok?” Juliet, one of Marci’s bridesmaids had come over to relay the message.

“OK, thanks”, Karen told her.

Juliet went back to her chair, and Matt took the opportunity to finally say what he needed to say, this time placing his hand over hers that rested on the table.

“Um, I was wondering-”

“Excuse me sir,” a waiter stood between them, waiting to give them their salads, and Matt reluctantly took his hand away.

He sighed; at this rate he was never going to be able to get the words out. 

He looked up in surprise as he felt Karen’s hand squeeze his. 

“Later. OK?” she whispered.

Matt smiled, some of the tension escaping him, and nodded.

They chatted easily over their salads, Matt laughing as Karen told him she had ended up walking the dog of one of their eldery witnesses she had managed to track down.

Before dessert was served one of Foggy's uncles began clinking his fork against his glass and started telling a story about Foggy as a little boy, and was soon interrupted by several other Nelson family members one-upping each other. 

As entertaining as it was, Matt realized it was a golden opportunity to slip away. He turned to Karen and raised his eyebrows, hoping she would get the hint. 

She did, immediately standing up and grabbing his arm.

"Think they'll miss us?" she asked as they headed for the door. 

"Not a chance"

“Come on, I think I spotted a courtyard earlier”, Karen said, as they left the restaurant. 

Matt happily followed her lead. The spot she picked wasn’t quite as secluded as she thought it was, but it would serve their purposes. 

They faced each other, neither one of them saying anything. God, this was so awkward. Karen let out a nervous giggle, so at least she thought so too. 

Matt cleared his throat, not knowing where to begin. He wanted to tell her how often he had thought back to their kiss in the rain and sitting on the stoop of her building, and then after everything he had to force himself not to think about, not daring to let his mind go there, hating himself for screwing it all up. He wanted to tell her about how much it overwhelmed him when he thought about how he would be homeless if it hadn’t been for her, about how the first time he had gone back to his apartment after Midland Circle he had immediately noticed her scent, and how something had clicked into place inside him at realizing she had been there while he was gone. How lately he had started to let himself remember what it was like to grab a quick kiss from her at the office, how just being around her felt like home, more than his apartment, more than any place he had ever called home. And about how fucking amazing she was, and the fact that she wanted him in her life after everything terrified him while giving him a warm feeling all over, and he would never take her for granted again.

But he didn’t say any of that.

Instead what came out of his mouth was “Do you think-um, that maybe we could try-uh, being more than just friends again?” Jesus, he sounded like he was sixteen.

“I mean-” he started again.

But before he even registered what was happening Karen had closed the gap between them and she was taking his head in her hands and then her lips were on his. 

After a moment of letting her take the lead, his brain finally caught up to what was happening, and he wrapped his arms around her. He deepened the kiss, pulling her closer, letting himself get completely lost in her.   
It was Karen who eventually pulled away.

“Yes” she answered his earlier question before resting her forehead against his.

Matt smiled so wide his cheeks hurt, and pulled her back in for a kiss. They would need to have an actual conversation at some point, but that could wait. 

His hands drifted up to her hair, and he hadn’t even realized how much he missed that particular thrill, when Karen’s phone started ringing. 

“Ignore it” she managed to say between kisses, which Matt was more than happy to do. Until it started ringing again.

“Damn it.” Karen whispered, pulling away. “It’s gotta be Marci.”

Matt tilted his forehead against hers. 

“Later?” he asked hopefully.

Karen smiled. “Definitely.”

She placed a soft kiss on his lips before walking back into the hotel. 

Matt ran a hand over his face, but failed to wipe the smile off. He didn’t need rooftops tonight to feel like he was on top of the world.


	5. Wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to my early readers, @LilyEllison @steelorchids and @Meinhiding. You are all awesome.

“Oh my God, Marci, you look beautiful”, Karen gasped as she entered the bridal suite. She had been tasked with checking in with the hotel’s kitchen staff to make sure everything was running smoothly (it was) while Marci got dressed. 

Marci looked radiant. Her wedding dress was covered in lace and she had opted to keep her hair down, her long soft curls framing her face. She was stunning. 

“Thank you”, Marci said sincerely, her eyes brimming with tears. “How much time do we have left?”

“10 minutes.” Karen told her. “Everything is running like clockwork”, she added to reassure her.

Marci breathed a sigh of relief, as her mom draped her veil over her face. Karen felt her own eyes water, mostly with happiness for her friend, but a little bit of sadness that she would never get to share a similar moment with her own mom. 

Karen moved aside as Marci’s dad entered the room, ready to escort his daughter down to the chapel. She was filled with a sort of happy-anticipation; not just to see her friends get married but to see Matt after their kiss last night. 

She had thought they would have been able to meet up to continue what they had started, but Marci’s “Ensure Everything Runs Smoothly” checklist had taken up the rest of the night. It had been after midnight by the time Karen had finally made it back to her room, and after a quick text exchange, she and Matt had decided they would just see each other at the wedding. 

Karen fell back as she followed Marci, her parents and Nicole and Juliet down to the hotel’s chapel. She smiled as she saw Brett and Theo already there waiting with Foggy’s niece and nephew, who were serving as the flower girl and ring bearer.

Karen had been paired with Brett, and they were the first in the procession. Marci’s mom quickly got everyone into formation, and Karen hooked her arm through Brett’s, and adjusted her bouquet. 

“Just think, you’re almost done with all of this wedding stuff.” she whispered.

“Not soon enough.” Brett sighed. 

Karen bit her lip, trying to suppress her laugh. Marci would definitely not approve of her bridesmaid laughing her way down the aisle. 

It was hard to believe this was almost over; it seemed like all of her free time had been dominated by wedding prep for months now. 

One of the hotel employees opened the double doors, and nodded at her and Brett, their cue to start down the aisle. She almost stopped breathing when she finally caught sight of Matt, standing next to a positively beaming Foggy. They both looked so dapper in their tuxes.

Karen and Brett separated when they reached the altar, and Karen took her place on the bride’s side, watching Juliet and Theo make their way down the aisle. She stole another glance at Matt, who was whispering something to Foggy, most likely trying to calm him down. He was practically bouncing waiting for Marci to appear. Karen felt tears in her eyes, so incredibly happy for him.

Juliet came to stand beside Karen, soon followed by Nicole, and then it was Maric’s turn. The guests stood as “Here Comes the Bride” started playing, and Marci appeared, escorted by both of her parents. She was practically glowing, and Karen wasn’t sure who was happier, Marci or Foggy.

“Please be seated” the pastor said

Karen snuck another yet glance at Matt as the ceremony began. She remembered a time before she knew his secret when she would find herself sneaking glances at him at the office whenever she could. After all, he was blind, so he wouldn’t even notice. She had been humiliated when she realized that that hadn’t been the case at all. When they started working together again she had tried to find ways to be discreet about it, realizing all the while she was fooling herself. 

Now she could take full advantage, and no longer cared that he could tell how much she wanted him. A little thrill ran through her thinking back to their kiss last night. She still felt like she was floating on air. For so long she had forced herself to forget what it felt like to kiss him, but last night it had all come rushing back.

“I’ve gotten to know Marci and Foggy over the past few months, and as I’m sure all of you are aware, their love for each other is very strong. They told me how they reconnected after a brief relationship in college, and as Marci described it to me ‘everything just eventually clicked into place.’” 

Karen felt her eyes welling up again at Pastor Walsh’s words. She had never expected to get so emotional during this wedding. She looked at Matt, and was surprised this time to find that he seemed to be focusing on her. 

She felt herself blush at the intensity of his stare and tried to focus on the ceremony, welling up again during the exchange of rings and then before she knew it Foggy and Marci were being pronounced “husband and wife.”

Karen beamed at her friends as they shared their first kiss as a married couple. The wedding party fell back into formation as Foggy and Marci walked down the aisle and this time Karen and Brett were the last pair, and Karen immediately walked over to Matt who was leaning against the wall, waiting for her before they headed into the ballroom.

“Hey” Karen said breathlessly walking up to him. 

“Hey”, he responded.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t meet back up last night. I, um, really wanted to.” Karen admitted.

Matt’s smile lit up the whole room. “Me too” he said softly.

Karen slipped her arm through his as they entered the hotel’s ballroom where the reception was being held, over to the long table set up for the bridal party. 

“Oh shit.” Karen whispered.

“What’s wrong?” Matt was immediately on alert.

“I forgot, we’re seated on opposite ends. It’s the girls on Marci’s side and the boys on Foggy’s.”

“Seriously? I could always just sit next to you and tell Marci I wasn’t aware there were place settings.” Matt smirked.

Karen laughed. 

“You know what, why the hell not?” she whispered. “I know you’re next to Foggy so I’ll sit in Theo’s seat. He can sit between Juliet and Nicole. I’m sure it won’t be too much of a hardship for him.”

She and Matt chatted easily through dinner, sticking to light topics, neither one of them wanting to discuss their relationship with so many people around.

After dinner it was time for Nicole and Matt, as the maid of honor and best man to make their toasts. Nicole went first, not leaving a dry eye in the house..

“You have some tough competition Murdock” Karen whispered jokingly before he stood up to speak. 

Matt gave her a smug smile in return.

He started speaking, starting off with a joke about he hoped he had everyone’s attention because he really couldn’t be sure, which caused Karen to catch Foggy’s eye, both of them playfully rolling their eyes.

Karen sat back against her chair as Matt went on to talk about how he was there they day Foggy met Marci, something about Foggy spilling his coffee over her. He had the room in stitches. Damn he could command a room. It had been a while since she had accompanied him to court. She would have to change that soon. 

“I’ll admit that if someone had told me in college that Foggy and Marci would go on to get married, I probably would have told them they were crazy. They were the very definition of ‘on again-off again...mostly off-again.” Karen smiled at Matt’s words and looked over at the newlyweds. 

“But oddly enough when they met up again years later, something clicked that hadn’t before. They had both grown-well, Marci had”.

“I object to that” Foggy called out.

Matt chuckled before continuing. “Everything finally fell into place, and they fell in love with each other all over again. They finally recognized in each other what we all want. Someone to share our life with, someone who accepts you just as you are, while encouraging you to hope and dream. Someone who makes you want to be the best possible version of yourself.”

Matt paused, and turned his head slightly, looking straight at Karen, who felt herself blush. 

“It’s incredibly rare and incredibly precious, and I know you two will cherish each other as you build your life together. Matt paused, raising his champagne glass in Foggy and Marci’s direction.

“To Foggy and Marci. I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness.”

Karen took a sip of champagne, swallowing quickly and wiping her eyes as Matt sat back down. 

“How did I do?” Matt asked with a smirk, knowing how his words had affected her. 

Karen laughed and playfully shoved him. Before she could answer, someone announced it was time to cut the cake, and they proceeded to watch Foggy and Marci shove cake into each other’s faces. 

****

 

“We’re old pros at this now”, Karen teased. They were finally on the dance floor. Karen hadn’t realized how much she had been looking forward to dancing with him again. 

Matt’s response was to pull her closer, and move his hand to her back, taking full advantage of her backless dress. She shivered at his touch and closed her eyes and leaned into him as they swayed to the music, some cover of a Billy Joel song. She remembered her mom had loved this one, often grabbing whatever was near to use as a microphone to belt out the lyrics, often overemphasizing the “go” in the line “don’t go changing”, which would always cause Karen and Kevin to collapse in a heap of giggles. 

“Nice toast” she told him, pulling back just a little.

He blushed. He seriously could not be any more adorable if he tried.

“Thanks. I-uh, had some last minute inspiration.”

Karen raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? So you _did_ end up winging it?”

“Not exactly. I-um, rewrote the last part last night.”

Meaning he had rewritten it after their kiss. Karen wasn’t sure why this revelation made her feel like she was floating on air, but it did. “Don’t Go Changing” faded and Vanessa Williams’ “Save the Best for Last” started playing

“Wow.” She somehow managed to speak.

“Karen, I was going to say this last night, but we got distracted. Not that I’m complaining,” he said, smiling. “And then you had to go help Marci. But I want to make sure you know that-that I’m different from how I was before. I’m still terrified that I’m going to screw this up. But I just-I need you to know that it’s not going to be like it was before”

Karen gulped, and willed herself not to cry again. She had no idea she was even capable of shedding so many tears in one day. She took Matt’s face in both of her hands.

“Matt, I know. I can see how much you’ve changed since you’ve been back. And I’m scared too”

Matt sighed and started to say something, but Karne spoke before he could get the words out.

“But I am willing to give it a try if you are.”

“I am” was his immediate answer, and she smiled, resting her forehead against his and wrapping her arms around his neck as Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” started to play. 

She was relieved knowing they were both scared of taking the next step. But she also knew that she wanted this; wanted it more than she had ever wanted anything. And her brief time with Matt before everything had gone to hell had been some of the happiest moments she had ever known. 

“You know,” she said as the song ended. My room is just one floor up.”

She almost laughed at the eager expression that appeared on his face. He looked like a puppy. 

“Is that so?” he asked, his hands tightening around her waist.

“Would it be unspeakably rude of us to leave now?” she asked, glancing around the room, smiling when she saw Foggy and Marci completely wrapped up in each other in the middle of the dance floor, without a care in the world.

“I think the only one who would even remotely care is Foggy. But I can guarantee we are the last people on his mind right now.” Matt grinned.

“Then….shall we?” Karen asked.

Matt smiled at her, she swore she felt butterflies in her chest. “Lead the way, Miss Page.”

Karen laced her fingers through his and did just that. She still felt like she was walking on air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I tried to think of the most "wedding" songs for them to dance to that I possibly could. The cover of Billy Joel's "Don't Go Changing" that's mentioned is actually sung by Maggie Gyllenhaal in the movie Happy Endings. That's the version that immediately came to mind when I thought to use that song (which I swear I have heard at every wedding I have ever been to (the original Billy Joel, that is). The other two songs mentioned, as noted, were "Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams and "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty


	6. Night of the Wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a million to @LilyEllison, @Meinhiding and @steelorchids for reading this ahead of time!! All 3 of you made me feel much better about my first-ever attempt at smut. *blows a million kisses*

He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt excited about anything.They had almost missed their floor when the elevator opened on Karen’s floor (they had been the only people in it, so they had launched themselves at each other the minute the door closed). They eventually reached their destination and Matt placed his hand on Karen’s back, leaning in to kiss her neck as she rummaged in her purse for her keycard. The energy between them was electric, and Matt didn’t think he could stop touching her if he tried. 

“Ah, success!” Karen said, as she opened the door. She immediately kicked her heels off and then Matt was wrapping her up in both of his arms and they were kissing again.

Karen took a small step away, and started to let her hair down, but Matt reached out and gently touched her arm before she could.

“Let me?” he asked breathlessly. 

Karen smiled, and gave a slight nod of her head, and Matt carefully found the pin holding her bun together and sighed happily as her silky strands fell against his fingers.

"I've been wanting to do that all night", he told her 

"Oh is that so Mr. Murdock? Is that all you've been wanting to do all night?" she teased.

"Not even close,'' he said, hugging her to him and kissing her passionately. 

Karen reached down started tugging at her dress and underwear, and before Matt knew it she was standing in front of him completely naked. 

That was quick. He gulped and took a step closer to her.

"Karen" he breathed. Her presence filled up the entire room, and to Matt’s senses she was practically glowing.

She took a step closer to him, reaching her hand out to touch his chest. "Matt, I've wanted this for a really long time,'' she said quietly. Matt felt something tighten in his chest, and remembered with painful clarity turning her down after their date 

"Me too" he grabbed her hand and brought it up to his mouth to kiss. “I want you to know something. It killed me to walk away from you that night. But I couldn't-I couldn't make love to you while I was hiding so much from you. I wasn’t ready to tell you, and I knew if you saw all of the scars…” he let his voice trail off. 

Karen stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her forehead against his. Matt put his hands on her waist, and let out a shaky breath. He had no idea how he was still standing upright with a naked Karen Page wrapped around him. 

"I know. I'm glad we waited. Now there's nothing between us" she whispered. "Except your clothes,'' she said with a smile, and started undoing his tie. Matt’s laugh quickly gave way to a moan as she let the tie drop to the floor and started to undo the buttons on his shirt, pressing soft kisses on his face. 

Matt stepped back to shed his shoes and socks and Karen closed the gap between them, running her hands down his arms as she removed his shirt. 

He could feel her studying his chest and winced. He knew she wouldn’t have a problem with them, but some of those scars had to be pretty ugly. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe apologize, but Karen spoke before he could say anything. 

"God, Matt, you're incredible," she said softly.

"They're probably not the nicest to look at,'' he tried to sound casual but he could hear how tense his voice sounded. 

"I have seen them before, remember?" she reminded him, kissing his cheek. 

Matt had almost forgotten changing his shirt in front of her that night in the crypt and slowly let out the breath he was holding. 

“Still. They’re...”, he let his voice trail off, not sure what he wanted to say

" They're a part of you,'' she said, leaning down and placing a kiss on the one by his collarbone. 

She did the same thing to each one of his scars, her soft kisses on his rough skin nearly undoing him. He pulled her back up and planted his mouth on hers, kissing her deeply and started leading her towards the bed.

Matt lay on his side, his hands roaming over Karen's body as they continued kissing. He couldn’t get over how soft her skin was. It put the finest silk in the world to shame. Matt ran a finger down her arm, and continued down her stomach and thigh, only stopping when he reached his destination, smiling at how wet she was already. 

“Matt” she moaned, and he started a trail of kisses, starting at her neck and moving down to her stomach. He adjusted his position to go lower, wanting to put his mouth on her, but he felt her tug his shoulders and looked up in surprise. 

"I like your train of thought. But later. I need you inside. Now.”, she panted.

Matt grinned. No way he was going to argue with that. 

He started working his way back up, groaning when he realized that in his haste to get rid of his clothes he had forgotten to get the condom out of his wallet. And his pants were all the way across the room. 

“I have to get a-”, he started, but Karen read his mind. 

"Oh, there's a box by the lamp" she said breathlessly, kissing his neck. "I ran downstairs last night to get a cup of coffee and made a stop at the hotel store", she continued, reaching around him and grabbing the box he had failed to notice. 

"Perfect", Matt whispered. " Because I really didn't want to leave the bed,'' he chuckled.

Karen giggled and kissed his nose. 

Matt rolled the condom on and settled on top of her, running a hand over her hair. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, and kissed her, slow and sweet and perfect.

Karen reached for him, guiding him to her entrance,and Matt felt both of their bodies clench as they became one. She was so warm and sweet, it was almost enough to lose himself right then.

“God you feel good,” he whispered against her neck. Karen hummed in response, her fingers digging into his shoulders as he gave her a minute to adjust.

“Right back at you,'' she said breathlessly, wrapping her legs around his waist, and Matt began moving slowly, determined to make this last as long as possible. Karen arched her back to take him in deeper and Matt moaned, grabbing both of her hands in his and raising them over her head. He could tell from the heat radiating from her that Karen's face was flushed, her lips swollen from all of their kisses. 

He could feel a glorious tension building inside him, and he started moving faster, not able to control himself any longer. Matt could tell she was close too and he reached between their bodies to push her over the edge, and she shattered beneath him, completely letting herself go. She moaned his name one more time, her hands running through his hair and with one more thrust he finally lost himself.

Before pulling away from her, Matt leaned down and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. Karen hummed happily as he rolled to the side of the bed, quickly removing the condom before pulling her into his arms. 

Matt smiled as she started to trace patterns on his chest.

“Wow”, Karen whispered, and Matt smiled as he started playing with her hair. 

“My thoughts exactly” he said, smiling.

Karen adjusted so she was lying on top of him and Matt immediately started running his hand up and down her back.   
“We have a lot of lost time to make up for, Murdock.” she said, tapping his chest. 

Matt laughed and grabbed her face with both hands. 

“We do”, he agreed, kissing her. “They just started the chicken dance downstairs, you sure you don’t want to go join them?”

“Not a chance,'' Karen said, kissing him passionately as he flipped her onto her back.

Much later, Matt listened to the steady beat of Karen’s heart as she drifted off to sleep. He loosened his grip on her slightly, so she would be more comfortable, but she burrowed further into his chest as soon as he did so. He smiled, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, careful not to wake her. 

“I love you”, Karen said, so softly it sounded like a whisper even to him.

Matt felt tears instantly well in his eyes. Her heartbeat was the same, she was still half-asleep. She probably wouldn’t even remember having said it in the morning. 

He rubbed her back, overcome with emotions. Usually when anything good happened to him there would be a little voice telling him he didn’t deserve any happiness, and then inevitably there was also Stick’s voice telling him how selfish and weak he was but tonight he ignored them, trying instead to listen to the voice that was telling him that he must be doing something right to fall asleep with Karen Page in his arms. 

“I love you too” he whispered, as he drifted off to sleep. He’d tell her again in the morning. And every day after that.


	7. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A million thanks once again to @LilyEllison, @Meinhiding and @steelorchids. I appreciate your feedback so much

Karen opened her eyes slowly, a lazy smile crossing her face. She had fantasized about waking up next to Matt countless times, and now she was waking up with his arm around her waist, confirming last night hadn’t been a dream. He began to stir next to her and she hummed happily, and turned around to kiss him but she froze when she caught the time on the little digital clock on the nightstand. 

“Shit!”, she yelled, sitting up, clutching the sheet around her.

“What’s wrong?” Matt asked, his eyes wide.

“We have to be downstairs in twenty minutes. Shit!”

“Oh god, the breakfast”, Matt groaned, sitting up, running a hand over his face. “I totally forgot.”

Foggy and Marci had invited the wedding party to a big breakfast at the hotel restaurant before they left for the airport. 

Karen smiled, moving her hair out of her face. “Me too. I was a little distracted last night or I would have set an alarm,” she teased.

“Oh, is that so, Miss Page?”, Matt asked, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her back down on the bed.

Karen sighed dreamily as he kissed her, all thoughts of breakfast leaving her head, when Matt’s phone started vibrating and chirping Foggy’s name. 

“Shit” they both whispered. 

Karen reluctantly got up as Matt answered his phone and rushed over to her bag, pulling out a sleeveless top and skirt. They were both a little wrinkled from being in her bag for two days. She probably should have taken advantage of the closet in the room, but hadn’t bothered. She shrugged, doubting anyone would care that her clothes were wrinkled.

She sighed as Matt finished his call.

“What did he want?” she asked.

“He lost the charger for his phone, so I’m supposed to bring mine to breakfast. Luckily I have another one at home, because this one is apparently going to Barbados.”

Karen laughed, shaking her head. 

Matt had gotten out of bed and was stretching, with his arms over his head. Karen forced herself to look away because otherwise she’d be jumping on him, and then they would be _really_ late for breakfast. She shivered at the memory of having his hands on her body. Karen had never had a lover as attentive as Matt. In her experiences, sex had always been pretty routine. Before last night she had never truly known what it was to be made love to. There was really no other way to describe it.

“OK, I’m going to take the world’s fastest shower. Unless you want to?...” she asked.

“No, go ahead. I’ll...oh shit.” Matt cut himself off.

“What?”

“I have to go up to my room to get clothes. I’m not going to breakfast in my tux.”

Karen giggled; she hadn’t even thought about that. Matt put his pants on and grabbed his shirt, leaving a few buttons undone and tossed his tuxedo jacket over his arm. He looked amazing. 

She walked over to him and slipped her arms around his neck, grinning as his arms circled her waist. God, she wished they could skip this breakfast.

“I’ll save you a seat.” she said, leaning in to place a soft kiss on his lips. 

Matt hummed happily and kissed her back, his hands tightening around her waist. 

Karen let herself get caught up in the kiss before remembering the time and playfully pushed him away. 

“Later, Murdock. After we see the newlyweds off.” Karen paused, a thought occurring to her. 

“Do you think we should wait until they’re back from Barbados to tell them about us? I don’t want to steal their thunder right before they leave on their honeymoon.”

Matt just stood at the door smiling at her. 

“What?” 

“Nothing. I just-I like that we’re an ‘us’ now.” he said shyly. 

Karen felt herself blush, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “So what do you think?”

“I think that I would really like to be back in that bed with you. Preferably with no clothes on.” Matt said, pulling her closer. 

Karen cupped his cheek, caressing his face with her thumb. That was all she wanted too.

Matt cleared his throat and responded before she could say anything. “But yes, I am fine with waiting to tell Foggy and Marci. About us.” He emphasized the word us, grinning.

Karen pulled him into a kiss, grinning against his mouth. “OK go, Murdock. We’re probably down to like five minutes now.”

Matt kissed her nose and disappeared to his room. 

*****

“Good morning Karen. Glad you could finally join us” Marci called out as she approached the table. Everyone was already seated except for her and Matt, who still hadn’t made it downstairs.

“Good morning newlyweds. Sorry I’m late, I overslept”. Karen grinned at Foggy and Marci, who both looked like they were glowing. 

“Karen, are you feeling ok? Your cheeks are all flushed.” Foggy remarked.

“Oh, I’m fine. Just in a hurry from rushing to get down here, I guess.”

Foggy nodded and went back to perusing his menu.

“Matt hasn’t made it down yet?”, she asked, playing dumb. 

“No not yet. Didn’t you call him, Foggy Bear?” Marci asked.

“Yeah, but that was just to tell him to bring his charger with him. He is up. I’m sure he’ll be here any minute.” Foggy said. 

Karen gulped. Why was Foggy looking at her when he said that?

“Hey,” Matt arrived at the table, his own cheeks a little flushed, and Karen bit her lip to keep from smiling. 

“Morning buddy. You must have called it an early night.” Foggy observed, reaching out to take Matt’s charger. 

“Oh, yeah, I-um. I had a headache.” Matt said, nervously running his hand down his cane.

“Here Matt, I saved you a seat,” Karen stood up and touched his arm, “guiding” him to the seat next to hers. She wouldn’t have bothered if they were only dining with Foggy and Marci, but with Brett, Theo, Juliet and Nicole at the table, she figured they better play it safe. At least it gave her an excuse to touch him. 

“Morning Karen” Matt said generically. 

“Good morning Murdock. Sleep well?” Karen couldn’t resist.

“Oh, very well. You?”

 

“Same”. 

She caught Brett rolling his eyes at this exchange. She was a little surprised he was still here, seeing as how eager he was to be done with wedding activities. A free breakfast must have been too good to pass up. 

“Coffee?” she asked Matt, reaching for the pot.

“Yes, please”. She ever-so-subtly making a point to lightly brush her hand against his as she filled his cup, trying not to smile as she felt him tense at her touch.

The waiter came over to take everyone’s order, and Foggy filled Matt and Karen in on what they had missed at the reception. Apparently, Theo had been quite the hit on the dance floor. 

They were discussing what Foggy and Marci planned to do on their honeymoon when their food came. Marci just wanted to lay by the pool and drink tropical cocktails, and Foggy was trying to convince her that they needed to go swimming with sharks.

“I have no plans to die on my honeymoon, Foggy Bear”, Marci was saying, when Karen felt Matt’s hand on her knee. She smiled, and reached for the maple syrup to pour over her pancakes.

She had just taken a bite when Matt’s hand started going higher up her leg. She quickly took a sip of orange juice to stop herself from moaning. She didn’t even have to look at him to know he had that satisfied smirk on his face. 

Matt’s hand continued going higher until he reached her underwear, and Karen had to grip the table.

“Karen are you alright? Your face is completely red!” Marci observed.

Karen forced herself to breathe slowly as Matt removed his hand. 

“Fine, thanks. Just swallowed the wrong way, I guess.” she said.

She glared at Matt and resumed eating her pancakes as the conversation continued around them. She looked at him, and sure enough he had that damn smirk on his face. How was it possible to both hate and be completely turned on by a damn smirk?

Two could play that game. Matt took a bite of his waffles, and Karen reached under the table to place her hand on his thigh and very slowly began tracing patterns with her finger. Matt immediately froze, and Karen bit her lip so as not to burst out laughing, which would give their little game away completely. 

She started moving her hand up his leg very slowly. Matt had gone white as a sheet and was breathing so hard it sounded like he was about to pass out. 

“Are you alright Matt? You look pale.” she asked softly in a teasing tone.

“Fine” Matt managed to choke out. 

Matt threw his napkin down on the table, quickly standing up.

“Matt? Everything ok?” Foggy asked.

“Uh, Foggy, I’m really sorry, but Karen and I have to cut out of breakfast early. I didn’t want to bother you with it since you’ll be out for the week, but we got a new client, and the only time she was available to meet was this morning.”

Karen just watched him, a little amazed at how quickly that story had come out. It didn’t make any sense, and there was no way Foggy would buy it, but Matt didn’t give him any time to question it.

Matt went over to hug both Foggy and Marci telling them both to have a wonderful time on their honeymoon. “Karen, you ready?” he asked impatiently. He was practically bouncing. 

“Uh yeah.” Karen took one last bite of her pancakes, hugged the newlyweds goodbye, teasing Foggy that he better bring back something from Barbados they could put in the office, and quickly caught up to Matt. She didn’t care if Foggy bought it or not, all she cared about was getting Matt back in bed. She grabbed his hand as they walked elevator, failing to keep the smile off of her face.

************************

Foggy watched Matt and Karen race towards the elevator, hands entwined, and smiled. When he realized both of them had disappeared during the reception last night he figured they had finally stopped fighting what had been glaringly obvious to everyone but them. 

“Thank God”, he muttered.

“What, babe?” Marci asked him.

“Those two finally are getting it on.”

“Wait a minute? You mean they haven’t been a couple this entire time?” Nicole asked, a stunned look on her face. “They’ve been all over each other since I met them!”

“Welcome to my world”, Foggy said with a grin, taking a sip of coffee and turning his attention back to his wife.

******************************

 

Karen woke up the next day with Matt’s arms wrapped around her waist. She yawned, looking around at Matt’s bedroom. This was more like it. After escaping breakfast they hadn’t left Karen’s room until noon when they had to checkout of the hotel. Karen had briefly gone to her apartment to take a shower and get some fresh clothes before going to Matt’s

Karen rolled over to look at Matt, who was just waking up. He smiled when he sensed her looking at him, and pulled her on top of him.

“We don’t have anywhere to go today, do we?” he asked, grinning. “Please say no”.

“I know I don’t”, Karen said, grinning, and leaned down to kiss him, soft and slow.

“Mmmmmm...this is the kind of morning we should have had yesterday” she said dreamily. 

“Agreed.” Matt was rubbing his hand up and down her back and Karen buried her head in his chest. 

After a while Matt chuckled. “You know what? I don’t think I have anything here for breakfast.”

Karen leaned over to look at her phone on his nightstand. “Well, considering it’s almost noon, I’d say it’s not an issue.”

Matt laughed, tipping his head up so their foreheads met. She closed her eyes, loving the feeling of being so close to him. 

“Karen, I have to tell you something.”

“What?” she whispered, opening her eyes, but keeping her forehead pressed to his.

“ I love you.”

Tears filled her eyes as she grabbed Matt’s face with both of her hands.

“I love you too, Matt.”, she said, smiling through her tears as he kissed her. 

“You know, Foggy is going to take all of the credit for this when we tell him. He’ll never let us forget that it was his wedding that finally got us together again.” Karen said with a giggle when they broke apart. 

“Oh, no doubt.” Matt laughed, running his hand over her hair. “I don’t care.”

Karen smiled. “Neither do I”, kissing him, sighing happily as Matt’s hands circled her back, flipping her over.

They ended up skipping lunch too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who read this fic and for all of your comments. I hope you enjoyed.

**Author's Note:**

> My plan is to post every two weeks. Some chapters could be a little late, due to my summer calendar rapidly filling up.
> 
> Title from the ee cummings poem [i carry your heart with me (i carry it in]


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